HOUSTON, Texas - The 2011 Conference USA Championships were contested on Monday (October 31) morning at the Wildcat Golf Club in Houston, Texas and the Tulane cross country program came away with an eighth place finish on the men's side and a ninth place showing in the women's competition.

"Katherine (Crabtree) led out team today and had one of her best collegiate performances," said Tulane head coach Eric Peterson. "She hasn't had the opportunity to really compete at the championships the last two seasons, once due to injury, and we are happy to see her consistent progress, which included leading our team today. I can see definite growth and improvement from every kid on this team. We are not pleased with our finish, but I think we are close to being very competitive in this conference and that is what we are looking to in the future.

In addition to Katherine, Paige Emmi and Johanna all had solid showings and made a big contribution to what we were able to do as a team."

In the women's race, Tulane tallied 236 points on their way to a ninth place finish. SMU captured the team championship by edging Tulsa, 57-59, while Rice (83 points), East Carolina (86) and UTEP (162) made up the top five. UAB (167), Memphis (208) and Houston (219) preceded Tulane and UCF (258), Southern Miss (271) and Marshall (281) completed the team scoring.

Katherine Crabtree led the pack of Green Wave runners at the 2011 championships, finishing 30th overall in a time of 18:29.10. It was the first time this season that Crabtree has led the team - the third time in her career she has been the top finisher for Tulane - and she finished six seconds ahead of rookie Paige Callahan.

Callahan, who had led the team in each of their first four races this season, ran the 5K course in 18:35.30 to place 37th in the team race. Emmi Aguillard ran 18:59.30, finishing 45th, Johanna Gretschel covered the distance in 19:29.30, placing 58th, and Callie Turlington ran 19:52.60, finishing 66th. Jessica Dallager rounded out the women's squad with a 75th place showing in 19:53.80.

The men's team totaled 228 points to finish eighth out of eight teams. Tulsa won the men's race with a total of 35 points, followed by UTEP (48 points), Houston (71), Rice (108) and Marshall (133) to round out the top five. Memphis scored 135 points to place sixth and East Carolina was seventh with 191 points.

"We are experiencing, on the men's side, the contribution of young athletes in our program," Peterson said. "They are working really hard and showing signs of improvement on a weekly basis. Max and Cody really had outstanding performances today. Max has finished the conference meet strong two years in a row and that is a nice result for him. Cody was the performance of the day and set a really big (personal record). It was good to see them both have good days."

Max Miller highlighted the Green Wave's stay at the Conference USA Championships, leading the squad with a 37th place showing, and freshman Cody Gibbons shaved over one minute off of his personal best time and finished 50th overall in the race. Miller grabbed a time of 26:30.30 on the eight kilometer course to lead the team at the championships for the second consecutive season.

Gibbons, running in his fifth career race, covered the 8K course in 27:13.40, which was 62-second faster than his prior career best. Senior Brian Lozes was the third Green Wave finisher to break the tape, running 27:15.80, and he was followed by rookie Mark Manion (27:45.80) and senior Mike Mainguy (27:58.20) to complete the team scoring.

"I think that the women have generated some momentum for themselves following today's meet," Peterson said about heading into the NCAA Regional Meet. "We see some areas that we can improve on immediately and we are going to really focus on those going into the regional meet. This will be the first time the men have competed at regional meet since the program has been back and that will be a really good test for them and a good step forward for our program."

Tulane moves on to the NCAA South Central Regional in two weeks at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas. The meet will be hosted by Baylor University and information on the event can be found by clicking here.

The mission of the Tulane University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to support the university's purpose of enriching the capacity to think, learn, act, and lead with integrity and wisdom. This is ensured by providing our student-athletes and staff with opportunities for competitive success and personal growth within the context of sportsmanship, teamwork, and integrity.